


Sucking It Up

by gaygentdanvers



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Attempt at Humor, Deaf!Magnus, Fluff, M/M, This is corny as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 16:09:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13662528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaygentdanvers/pseuds/gaygentdanvers
Summary: It was the book of spells that caught Alec’s attention first.[Izzy would argue thatit was totally his gorgeous eyes, Alec,but he would never admit that to anyone, much less his little sister.]It was a fairly large book, though, and one of the few in the library about magic -- Alec would know, he spent most of his time there -- so of course it caught his eye. And if the book that seized his attention had been checked out by a man who justhappenedto be very easy on the eyes, well... So be it.





	Sucking It Up

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little something I'm reposting after taking it down a while ago.

It was the book of spells that caught Alec’s attention first.  
  
  
  
[Izzy would argue that _it was totally his gorgeous eyes, Alec,_ but he would never admit that to anyone, much less his little sister.]

 

  
It was a fairly large book, though, and one of the few in the library about magic -- Alec would know, he spent most of his time there -- so of course it caught his eye. And if the book that seized his attention had been checked out by a man who just _happened_ to be very easy on the eyes, well… So be it.  
  
  
  
“Hey Alec, I know you’re not one for social skills, but staring is typically seen as impolite.”  
  
  
  
Alec shifted his eyes away from the stranger before Jace’s sentence was even fully out of his mouth, a warning glare already aimed at his adoptive brother. “I was _not_ staring,” he fired back, choosing to ignore Izzy’s eye roll of disbelief beside him. He _wasn’t_ staring; he was just curious about the book, that’s all.  
  
  
  
As if reading his mind, Izzy rested a hand on his arm and shot a faux-stern look at Jace across the table. “Give him a break, Jace, you and I both know Alec doesn’t like people.”  
  
  
  
Alec sat back as his siblings continued to bicker back and forth about his lack of interest in social interaction, blocking out their voices as he found himself stealing quick glances at the table in the corner, always hurriedly looking away before Jace, Izzy, or _God forbid_ the stranger himself noticed it.   
  
  
  
It went on like that for another half hour, Alec’s eyes subtly darting from his work to the man completely engrossed in his own book, up until the moment Izzy declared she was heading home and Alec and Jace both packed up as well, because there was no way they were going to let their little sister walk back to her dorm at night by herself -- even if she _was_ capable of giving a man twice her size a broken nose on her own.

 

[Alec still hadn’t completely gotten over that, even if it was dark and she had thought he was attempting to break in -- it _hurt_.]  
  
  
  
//  
  
  
  
He hadn’t expected to see the stranger in the library again after that, and -- if he was being completely honest -- the man hadn’t even crossed his mind the whole weekend; but on Monday, when Alec settled into his unofficial official seat and began pulling out his textbooks, his eyes flitted up and froze when they landed on him, sitting at the same table in the corner of the library.  
  
  
  
He was reading the same book he was last time, and if Alec didn’t know any better he would think he hadn’t moved from that spot in the past three days.

  
  
Clearing his throat, he pursed his lips and forced himself to look away; he would _not_ spend the entire time sneaking looks at someone he didn’t even know every five seconds -- not again.  
  
  
  
He ended up doing just that, and nearly had a heart attack when he glanced up once to find the stranger already looking back at him. Both sets of eyes immediately shot back down, a hot blush creeping up on Alec’s neck as he  dreadfully realized the man must’ve noticed his staring. The embarrassing situation was enough to keep Alec’s eyes glued intently to his own book the rest of the time, not wanting to risk a repeat of the incident.  
  
  
  
He stayed that way until he saw the man get up in his peripheral vision, and he willed himself to read the words in his textbook instead of watching him leave. It didn’t matter though, because the words were slightly blurry anyways, and his face was burning as he felt the man’s eyes on him when he passed by Alec’s table.  
  
  
  
Under any other circumstances, he would’ve already scared the guy away with a harsh scowl in his direction for so much as glancing at him -- but somehow, this was different.  
  
  
  
Alec hated that.  
  
  
  
//  
  
  
  
“I don’t know why you don’t just ask him out.”

  
  
His horrified expression at the innocent suggestion was enough to draw another eye roll from Izzy, and she shook her head before crossing her arms at him. “It’s obvious you’re interested in him, big brother,” she prodded gently, gesturing with a subtle nod of her head to the man in question.  
  
  
  
He was sitting in the same spot in the corner of the library.  
  
  
  
Reading the same book.  
  
  
  
_What is it with that book?_ Alec wondered; for anyone else, it would have been an easy excuse for starting up a conversation with him -- but this was Alec, and he didn’t do conversations.  
  
  
  
He sighed. “I don’t know, Izzy,” he said, eyebrows furrowing the more he thought about it. What could he even say without seeming rude, or even creepy? The man was too invested in his book, Alec would only be intruding. What if he had been misreading the stolen looks between them for the past few weeks and he ended up looking like an idiot? He couldn’t risk it, especially now that he saw the man almost every time he visited the library.  
  
  
  
He opened his mouth to voice these thoughts aloud to Izzy when he saw the hopeful gleam in her eyes. “What would I even say?” came out instead, deciding to humor his sister anyways, if only for the sake of her desire for matchmaking.  
  
  
  
He counted this as the fifth time in the thirty minutes they’d been in the library that she rolled her eyes at him. “I’m sure ‘Hi, I’m Alec,’ will work just fine.”

 

Alec made an incredulous face at her. “Are you insane?”  
  
  
  
Izzy shot him a look, resting her hand atop of his own. “You can’t keep staring at him and not doing anything about it. Go introduce yourself or something!”  
  
  
  
“Izzy, I can’t just-”  
  
  
  
“Alec, I love you, now suck it up and  _go_ ,” she interrupted him, gently pushing against his shoulder. “Trust me, it could pay off in the long-term.”

  
  
“Fine,” he relented, trying to ignore the light pounding behind his eyes as he stood from his seat.  
  
  
  
_I can do this_ , he thought.  
  
  
  
Steeling himself, Alec inhaled deeply and squared his shoulders, shuffling towards the corner of the library and  muttering _excuse me_ as he pushed past other people’s tables.

  
  
_I can do this._  
  
  
  
As he got closer, Alec observed the way the stranger seemed so… content. His eyes were focused on the book in front of him as his chin rested against his palm. Alec noticed the shiny blue polish on his nails, and the silver rings on several of his fingers.  
  
  
  
_I can do this._  
  
  
  
It was just a man, not a demon or a monster -- it wouldn't kill him to strike up a friendly conversation. In fact, the man looked absolutely harmless. He wasn’t going to bite him.

 

Alec was almost to his table, and the stranger’s back was now to him as he weaved his way around a bookshelf.  
  
  
  
_I can’t do this._  
  
  
  
Luckily the man hadn’t noticed him yet, because he didn’t look up before Alec came to an abrupt stop and turned on his heels, shoving his hands into his pockets as he made to walk back to his own table. But Izzy was glaring at him, gesturing wildly for him to keep going, so Alec grumbled and turned back around.  
  
  
  
“Uh- hey, I’m Alec,” he stammered when he came up behind the man once again. Over his shoulder, he could see long fingers slowly turn another page in his book. Alec cleared his throat. Had he not spoken up enough? But this was a library, after all, it’s not like he could talk that loudly. He shook his head and rose his voice a bit. “Hey, I’m Alec,” he repeated, hoping his voice sounded more confident than he felt.  
  
  
  
There was no response.  
  
  
  
This time, however, Alec knew he spoke loud enough for any normal person to hear him, especially since he was standing _right there._ His nervous expression quickly morphed into his signature scowl, and he huffed. Who was Jace to call _him_ impolite? At least he acknowledged someone’s advances towards him, even if it was typically just a glare and a curt, “ _please, don’t talk to me.”_  
  
  
  
Alec let his frown deepen as he shuffled to stand a little bit closer to the man, in his peripheral view, at least. He wasn’t good with eye contact, he didn’t particularly find getting in the stranger’s face appealing. “You know,” he said, seeing the startled look on the man’s face as his head snapped up, “I’ve been trying not to talk to you for the past few weeks, because I don’t normally like meeting new people, but my sister -- over there -- she told me to come over here and introduce myself, because I-I’ve seen you looking at me, and your book seems interesting, so… so I don’t know what your problem is, with me-”  
  
  
  
He was so caught up in his rant that he hadn’t realized the man had pulled out a small notebook and started scribbling something down, and it was only when a piece of paper was shoved in his face and his eyes settled on the words that he stopped talking, the words dying on his tongue.

Scrawled in neat, cursive handwriting on the paper were the words: _I can’t hear you._

  
  
“Oh,” he breathed, the library suddenly feeling a hundred degrees warmer. He swallowed thickly and scratched the back of his head, his neck and face hot with embarrassment as he finally caught sight of the hearing aid in the man’s ear. “ _Oh_.”  
  
  
  
He groaned, dropping his head in his hands. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t realize…” he stopped, shaking his head. “And I’m still talking to you even though you can’t hear me.”  
  
  
  
When he finally lifted his head from his hands, he found the man watching him with an amused smirk, fingers tapping against his chin. Alec frowned as he went to write something else down, probably something about his stupidity for not realizing he couldn’t hear sooner, or how rude he had been, getting _mad_ at a _deaf_ person.  
  
  
  
It was neither of those things, though, and although Alec would never admit this to Izzy or Jace, he couldn’t stop smiling, even hours after he walked away with the man’s name -- _Magnus_ \-- and his phone number.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys liked it! I live for comments and kudos :)


End file.
